Industrial threads or fibers are utilized in numerous industrial applications and in the formation of various consumer products. For example, industrial threads or fibers can be found in outdoor equipment such as tents, backpacks, sails, golf bags, and the like. Other products incorporating industrial threads or fibers include shoes, carpets, rugs, automotive and aircraft upholstery and the like. The durability, weatherability, flexibility and other characteristics of these products depend in large part upon the quality and nature of the industrial thread or fiber incorporated into the product.
Industrial threads or fibers are typically prepared from smaller individual fiber filaments. The individual fiber filaments utilized to prepare the industrial threads can be made of essentially any synthetic or natural material but are typically derived from, for example, various polymers such as nylons, polyesters, acetates, polyacrylonitriles, polyamides or aromatic polyamides such as KEVLAR from Du Pont de Nemours, E. I. & Co., or other materials such as regenerated cellulose. The fiber filaments are wound, woven, or otherwise combined or integrated to form the larger industrial thread or fiber. The individual fiber filaments may also be reinforced with an appropriate adhesive composition that binds the fiber filaments. When utilizing an adhesive composition to bind individual fiber filaments in the formation of an industrial thread or fiber, it is desirable to utilize an adhesive composition that will create adhesion between a significant number of fiber filaments and add to the overall toughness and flexibility of the industrial thread.
It has previously been proposed to utilize low solids solvent-based adhesive compositions for bonding fiber filaments to form industrial threads or fibers. However, the process for preparing such low solids, heat curable, solvent-containing adhesives requires the utilization of particularly volatile and hazardous solvents and is very difficult to carry out in an environmentally acceptable manner. The adhesives themselves also require the use of environmentally undesirable solvents, and a relatively high amount of heat energy is required to drive the solvent from the adhesive after application to the fiber filament bundle.